1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a driver disk for a clutch plate of a motor vehicle clutch with a strengthening or reinforcement part and a facing carrier connected to the reinforcement part and arranged for holding friction facings, the facing carrier having facing springs for axial suspension of the friction facings on the facing carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Driver disks having a reinforcement part and a facing carrier with facing springs are known in practice. The reinforcement part of these known driver disks has a radial outer edge which supports the facing carrier which is shaped like a disk ring and includes a plurality of individual segments. The facing carrier is produced from sheet metal which is substantially thinner than that of the reinforcement part. High stability is achieved in this driver disk by welding or soldering the reinforcement part to the facing carrier. Further, the quantity of structural component parts of the driver disk may be reduced in this way. This makes production of the driver disk very economical for series manufacture, particularly in comparison to a riveted driver disk.
A problem with the known driver disks is that it is very time-consuming to mount facing springs on the facing carrier in the area provided for the friction facings.
An object of the present invention is to design a driver disk having a reinforcement part and a facing carrier connected to the reinforcement part with facing springs arranged for holding friction facings in such a way that the driver disk is economical to produce.
According to the present invention, the problem is solved in that the facing carrier and the facing springs are constructed in one piece.
The facing springs according to the present invention are manufactured together with the facing carrier. Accordingly, manufacture of the inventive driver disk requires only a small number of work operations. Moreover, since the facing springs are constructed integral with the facing carrier, assembly of the present invention does not require an independent work step for mounting of the facing springs. The assembly of the inventive driver disk requires a particularly small number of structural component parts and work operations and the driver disk may therefore be economically produced.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the facing springs have particularly high spring stiffness. Resilient areas of the facing springs are arranged opposite one another in the facing carrier and include an area in the facing spring for contacting the friction facings. In this way, an area of the facing springs which contacts the friction facings is supported at two oppositely located areas of the facing carrier. Due to the high spring stiffness of the facing springs which is generated by their shape, spring steel which is difficult to weld is not required to be used for the facing springs and therefore the facing carriers. The use of non-spring steel further reduces the manufacturing costs for the driver disk according to the present invention.
For example, the facing springs may include waves or corrugations of the facing carrier which extend from the radial inner side to the radial outer side. However, springiness or elasticity of the facing springs leads to tangential deformation of the facing carrier. These deformations of the facing carrier are preventable according to another embodiment of the present invention when the facing springs have a closed outer contour. A further advantage of using the closed outer contour on the facing spring is that the area of the facing springs contacting the friction facing is not displaced relative to the friction facing when springing. This arrangement prevents sliding of the facing springs over the friction facing and accordingly prevents strong hysteresis.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the facing springs may be constructed in a particularly simple manner in that the facing carrier has pot-shaped raised portions or protuberances for axial suspension of the friction facings on the facing carrier.
Point loading of the friction facings by the facing springs is prevented by constructing flat projecting areas of the protuberances which are provided for contacting the friction facings.
According to a further embodiment, friction between the facing springs and the friction facings is further reduced by including cutouts in the facing carrier in the area of the facing springs for containing or absorbing deformations generated by axial movement of the friction facings. The recesses may be optionally arranged as openings or depressions in the facing carrier.
The friction facings may be arranged with large spring paths of friction facings located opposite one another when the facing carrier has protuberances arranged on both sides to form facing springs.
However, the driver disk according to the invention may be manufactured especially economically when all of the protuberances are arranged on one side of the facing carrier.
A clutch plate provided with the driver disk according to the present invention may be manufactured in a particularly economical manner when the facing springs are designed for directly supporting the facing material of the friction facings.
A desired spring characteristic of the facing springs may be generated, for example, by a material upsetting of the facing carrier or recesses. However, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the facing springs have high spring stiffness when the protuberances forming the facing springs have radii at their deflecting areas. The magnitude of the radii and the distances between the radii determine the spring characteristic of the facing springs.
A multilevel or multistage spring characteristic of the driver disk according to the invention may be generated in a simple manner when the facing springs have elastic or resilient stops. This multistage spring characteristic improves comfort during engagement of the clutch outfitted with the driver disk according to the present invention.
A driver disk exhibiting multilevel or multistage spring characteristics may be produced with reduced manufacturing costs when the facing springs are produced with different spring forces and/or spring paths. Therefore, the driver disk may exhibit multistage spring characteristics without resilient stops. The different spring forces or spring paths may be adjusted, for example, by a corresponding arrangement of the radii of the deflecting areas of the protuberances and their spacing from one another. The spring forces and the spring paths may be varied in any desired manner when the driver disk has facing springs arranged on opposite sides of the facing carrier or when the driver disk has facing springs arranged on the same side of the facing carrier.
In a clutch including the driver disk according to the present invention, a high area pressure of the radial inner areas of the friction facings may be prevented in a simple manner during engagement of the clutch when the radii of the protuberances of the facing spring near the radial outer area of the facing carrier are smaller than the radii of the protuberances near the radial inner area of the facing carrier. This arrangement increases the dynamic torque transmitting capability of the clutch. As a result, fading is reduced particularly in case of high torque transmission of the clutch occurring such as, for example, when starting the motor vehicle.
A clutch including the driver disk according to the present invention has good separating behavior during disengagement when the flat area of the protuberances which is provided for contact with the friction facings is inclined relative to a section of the facing carrier that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. According to this embodiment, the orientation of the friction facings in the disengaged state is not parallel to the counter-friction surface of the clutch. Therefore, the friction facings are prevented from adhering to the counter-friction surface through adhesion or vacuum.
To improve the separating behavior of the clutch including the driver disk according to the present invention in the disengaged state, the flat area of the protuberances which is provided for contact with the friction facings is inclined relative to the facing carrier in a tangential section. Due to this construction, the friction facings are inclined in rotational direction, so that an air cushion is formed between the friction facings and the counter-friction surfaces in the disengaged state. This reliably prevents the clutch disk outfitted with the driver disk according to the invention from rotating along.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.